In this day and age, odds are that many of your Montessori upper elementary students are extremely familiar and comfortable with computers. They may even know the computer better than you! If you have computers in your Montessori classroom or school that your students will be using, I find it is helpful to do an introductory lesson to the computer with your Montessori students regardless of their preexisting knowledge and savvy. I have discovered that upper elementary students are often overly confident about their computer skills and/or too embarrassed to admit they don’t know as much as they claim. Often a simple difference in brand (Dell vs. Toshiba) or operating platform (Mac OS vs. Windows Vista) can make a difference in their comfort level and knowledge.
If the interest is there, begin your introduction to computers with a discussion and book about the history of computers. In small or large groups, show your students all the important parts of the computers you will be using (power button, mouse, screen, hard drive, etc.) Have your students draw and label a diagram of the computer. If necessary, you can write the names of the parts on slips of paper, place them in a hat or bowl, draw a name and have students “race” each other to locate the part. There are many opportunities for later extensions to this introductory activity, such as defining the functions of various parts of the computer, even taking it further to identify, define and explore concepts such as memory and other inner workings of the computer.
